Shanghai – Day 2
The hospitality of the Qingdao folks was felt both after then show and this morning, so it was a late morning wake up for the Redbucks. Breakfast on the Observatory’s rooftop, set everyone straight and we decided to tackle the streets of Qingdao.
We set off with Qingdao’s the endless stacks of Qingdao beer kegs in mind. Beer is cheaper than water in this city and we think more readily available. It wasn’t long before we found a woman with a keg and a scale (beer is sold by the half-kilo here). Before we knew it Bonedaddy and Yeehaw had bitten the corners off a bag and were no different from Nine Pound, Two Sheds Jackson’s 7-week-old newborn.
With our beer-bags in tow, the Bucks went for a stroll along Qingdao’s crowded beaches. Breathing in the sea breeze was a nice change from Beijing’s stale summer air. Yeehaw found a street stall selling crabs, mussels and other briny morsels and a hole-in-the-wall restaurant prepared everything. For fear of registering on the hive count, Uncle Luke among others decided to opt out of local seafood.
At the table, Sweetgrass was coerced into a drinking contest with a Chinese man…and lost. Something worth mentioning is the taste of Qingdao’s unfiltered beer that is light years ahead of it’s clear, green-bottle counter part. Perhaps it gives the locals an unfair advantage. In true Redbuck style, Two Sheds and Amy mounted quarter-cent plastic horses, but were bucked off when they found out they cost 10 kuai a ride.
Then it was off to the airport and hours spent finding a hotel on unreliable public wifi. The World Expo has made this task quite difficult. It was a race against time, however, Spice’s skills came out on top and before we knew it, we were driving above the bright lights of the World Expo by a jolly Shanghainese man.
The evening ended with A little World Cup, followed by several things not fit for print. The Redbucks are in Shanghai and we are ready for another face melting show at Mao Live tonight. We hope to see you there!
-The Redbucks
Qingdao – Day 1
With an early rise to make it out of Beijing, we had to fight the morning traffic. We all proved responsible band members and arrived with time to spare. After hurrying to the Golden Arches for some homegrown sustenance and coffee, we got on the train for a quick and pleasant ride to Qingdao.
Neil, from Redstar Magazine, the local English-language monthly, came and met us at the train station, and we got a brief glimpse of the cities narrow, winding streets and quaint European vibe (or so the Qingdao Chamber of Commerce would have you believe). He took us to our hostel, an Old Observatory which sits atop a tall hill and normally provides stellar views of Qingdao, were it not for the blanket of fog and pollution.
We napped up for bit and headed to the venue for soundcheck, takeout food, and fresh Qingdao brews. Despite the torrential rains we had a good showing with mostly Qingdao expats and a good contingent of local Qingdaonese. We kicked it off with a few fast-paced Bluegrass standards and the crowd was diggin’ it. We cruised through the first set and got some feet moving. Jimmy Yeehaw observed that many faces were melted during the performance or the audience had a high concentration of people with downs syndrome. See recap of the RedStar show.
The evening ended with death nearly adverted, as we made the responsible decision to take the stairs out of the venue instead of an elevator straight out of a horror movie that was flooding with water.
Near death Experience count: 1
Jackson Hive Count: 1
Pictures and video coming soon, Keep Buckin’!
Redbucks BBQ and Tour Kickoff
The Redbucks in Hong Kong
Howdy Buckaneers,
The Redbucks are getting into high gear, preparing for our tour down the China coast. To celebrate the kickoff of the tour, we are having a Redbuck BBQ on the 2 Kolegas lawn at 7:30pm Tuesday, 29 June.
As if things couldn’t get any better, Hobo Luke and Jimmy Yeehaw promised to pull out their smoker they built last year. Their creation makes the best smoke meat this side of the Pacific and the resulting pulled pork sandwiches are nothing short of spectacular.
Join The Redbucks at 2 Kolegas for a pulled pork dinner and an early evening bluegrass show. There’s no better end to a work day than Bluegrass, BBQ and Booze
Get their early, the pulled pork is going to go fast!
40RMB
-The Redbucks
Reviews of “All That Glitters”
All That Glitters is spinning around CD players and pumping on iPods all over Beijing. So far we’ve seen two reviews of the album on BeijingDaze (one from Daze and one from Ruby) and one from City Weekend reviewing the Album Release Party. Have a gander and keep the reviews coming!
All That Glitters – Available for Download
We’ve got some great news for all you Buckanners living outside of Beijing! All that Glitters is now available for download on both Amazon and iTunes. We’d be mighty obliged if you’d have a listen and review us online!
Stay tuned for a recap of the Redbuck Album Release Party!
All That Glitters…Coming Soon
The Redbucks are happy to announce that our debut album “All That Glitters” is off to the printers. We are all very happy with the end result. So much in fact, that we decided to give you Buckaneers a preview of the title track.
Check out our media player to the right to hear our title track “All That Glitters”
We are going to give out all of our specific thank you’s at our Yugong Yishan CD Release show next weekend, but first we’d like to send out one big thank you to all the really great people that made this album possible. Thanks!
See you at Yugong and Keep Buckin’
Best Local Band of the Year
The Redbucks have been selected as the 2010 Best Local Band of the Year by City Weekend!
Thanks to all our Buckaneers for the support.
Don’t miss our album release show at Yugong Yishan next Saturday!
-The Redbucks
You ain’t never seen Bluegrass like this before…
Be sure to join us this Thursday at D-22 for Bluegrass in 3D!
20RMB in advance 30RMB at the door.
Hope to see y’all there!
-The Redbucks
The Redbucks on That’s Shanghai
The Redbucks were happy to stumble across this article on That’s Shanghai and would like to pass it along to all our Buckaneers out there.
We can’t wait for our show at Mao Live House on July 3rd and hope to see a bunch of you Shanghaiers and Expo workers out there!
Ditan Folk Fest Photos
The Redbucks unanimously agree, the Ditan Folk Fest audience was the best, most enthusiastic bunch we’ve ever had the honor to play for.
Thanks to each and everyone of you for your support.
We found some great fan photos floating around on www.douban.com and thought you Buckaneers might like to take a peek:
We hope to see all of you on the road during the All That Glitters tour in July!
All That Glitters – Album Release Party
Join us at Yugong Yishan on June 5th for a night of good old-fashioned ruckus rasin’ and whiskey drinkin’. This time we’ve got something extra special to celebrate…the official release of our debut album, All That Glitters.
To observe this Redbuck milestone, each ticket sold will include a copy of our album. Tickets are available presale for 60RMB or 80RMB at the door.
Hope to you see y’all there!
The Redbucks in the studio
The Redbucks have been busier than a steer in a barn full of cows—laying down tracks for our debut album, “All That Glitters.” The album will consist of 13 original songs ranging from foot-stompin’, high-energy bluegrass and sweet county ballads to mountain music that can only be called “the real deal.” We’re currently working on mixing and mastering the tracks. Expect it to drop like a bomb on June 5th, when we have our CD release show at Yugong Yishan. Mark the date. More details on the album, gig and a summer tour across China coming soon.
Redbucks in the Beijing Daily (北京日报）
The Redbucks made the Beijing Daily paper. Click here to see a PDF of the article. A rough translation is below:
American Bluegrass is a type of Grammy award winning music. At this performance, a dynamic band called The Redbucks will perform bluegrass music by playing the banjo, mandolin, violin and several other instruments, each with a unique sound. The Redbucks posses a sweet and refreshing sound. Though they use traditional instruments, their style is fresh and new. Amid the hustle and bustle of a big city, the listener can find a thread of spiritual comfort.
New Tracks
Check out the new tunes (including 3 originals) that we recently recorded at practice… The sound quality is a little better than the older live recordings that we had up before.
Enjoy.
-The Redbucks
Redbucks Rock China Daily Event
Day of Glory
Beijing, China — During their second show of a busy week, The Redbucks introduced their down home bluegrass to a group of Chinese officials at a China Daily banquet dinner. A few traditional numbers followed by some newgrass had the guests clapping and brought a few to their feet.
Jimmy Yeehaw
“Two Sheds” Jackson Interview
Two Sheds Gettin' Down and Dirty
BeijingDaze interviews Redbucks Bassist “Two Sheds” Jackson. Two Sheds expounds on his musical career, likes, dislikes and the meaning of life.
Like Two Sheds always says, “If I had three sheds, I’d be Three Sheds Jackson, …but I only have two.”
Blogged again…
The Redbucks came across another blog entry that includes some video from our first gig at Paddy O’Sheas. Thanks Tao, I suppose we owe you a drink as well. Cosmo right?
-The Redbucks
Redbuck Trio Plays for Kentucky Governor
Yeehaw, Luke and Loves with Governor Beshear
Jimmy Yeehaw, Hobo Luke and Dumpy Loves performed for the Governor of Kentucky over October Holiday. Despite being half their normal size, Yeehaw, Luke, and Loves put on a hell of a show.
This performance was a trip down memory lane as Yeehaw, Luke and Loves met three years ago and formed a bluegrass trio called the Lan Cao Ramblers. These humble bluegrass beginnings eventually evolved into the Ruckus Rasin’ bluegrass sextet now known as the Redbucks.
What was the encore? Blue Moon of Kentucky of course.
BeijingDaze on 2 Kolegas Show
Howdy Folks,
The Redbucks would like to pass on a link to BeijingDaze‘s Blog. BeijingDaze wrote a nice piece on the Redbucks performance at 2 Kolegas. BeijingDaze, thanks for snapping some pics and your nice words. We’re happy you enjoyed our down-home music.
Your next White Russian is on us!
The Redbucks are Online
Beijing’s best bluegrass band welcomes you to our website. Here you can find upcoming gigs, listen to new music, and keep up to date with the latest Redbucks news.
